Pickle - Thy name is Priya. Review on Priya Pickles

Mr. Richard D'souza is a Mangy (Manglorian) from Udipi Karnataka. He fell in love with a Telugu girl named Lalitha Hope. That’s when trouble began. An Andhra cuisine with Udipi Masaladosa was a perfect match. They got along fine. The trouble began, when Lalitha announced to Richard that she was carrying. Their joy knew no bounds. While maintaining a career and trying to be at peace with each others in laws, Lalitha had this fascination for spicy food. Since pregnancy she had this urge to have more spice. Namely pickles. There were lot of home made pickles and she religiously had it with every meal. A decision she regrets to this day.

Tulsi, a common friend of the couple, suggested not to have too much spice.

''Hey Lalitha, if you have too much spice, your kid will be tough to manage''

''Nonsense, There wont be any problems. Besides, He or she would love spice''

''That’s the problem, when the kids love spice; they grow to expect spice in every thing. They will spice everything. You may not like it because you won’t be able to catch up to your kid''

The expected date was February 14th. But the baby decided to hurry up and came a few days in advance. 9th of February, 9 am and I weighed 9 pounds.

My mom had spicy pickles when she carried me. And she particularly had Mango Pickle, which I had inherited that particular liking towards Mango pickle even before I was born.

In Bengali it is called aam er aachaar ( the credit for this info goes to Chhail Chhabila)

In Kannada its called Mavina Uppinakayi (now RJ you can spare me for leaving this out)

In Telugu it’s called aavakai pachadi.

In Tamil it’s called Mangai oorugai.

In Malayalam it’s called Manga Aachar.

In Marati its called kairi cha loncha (thanks to Red Rose for that contribution)

In Hindi it’s called Aam ka Aachar.

When I was growing up, I was a terror to my parents. I wouldn’t eat my regular food unless I had Mango pickle. The supplies which were supposed to last for a year got exhausted in 4 to 5 months. It was then my dad used to buy 4 bottles of Priya Pickle every month. The flavors were Ginger, Chilli and of courseMango pickle. I still remember those days mom and dad had a tough time because sometimes the stores didn’t have Mango flavored Priya Pickle. When I was 12, the pickle production in my house went up to thrice the regular supply. But that didn’t make a difference. My dad still bought home Priya Pickles after 6 months of the production date.

so, what is so special about Priya Pickles? As far as I know, those days, that was the only company selling authentic Andhra pickles in the right proportions. Home made pickles without proper expertise may land you in lot of problems. I am sure you don’t want me to discuss the gory details of those problems. Priya Pickles have just what you want so that the pickles are of quality standards. The popular flavors are Gongura, garlic, Ginger, Red chilly, lime and the ever popular Mango.

For the Sane and those who intend to keep it that way, I recommend having it with Curd rice, Plain rice, Dhal rice, Sambhar rice, Idly, Dosa, idiappam etc. For those who are insane and obsessed with pickle, like I am, have it anyway you want. I would in fact recommend consuming the pickle just like that, especially the Mango pickle.

Even today, I would never last a day without Priya Pickles, Mango flavour. I would buy 5 bottles of priya Pickles per month, 3 jars of mango, one ginger and one red chilly, enough to last me an entire month.

Priya Pickles is the main business source for Priya foods, owned by the media giant Ramoji Rao ( Eenadu, Newstime, E Tv). Today they have 30 plus varieties. Since my loyalty to mango pickles, I never bothered to try out other varieties, like our favorite cat FatCat did. But right now, the quality standards are so high, that before the pickles hits the shelves of the local store, my favorite pickle goes thru a 7 stage process, right from integrating the raw materials to the final quality control check. Every unit that goes into the store do conform to the existing quality standards.

Comments Most Welcome

Davieboy

Ps. The best reviews in this category also read Oh Priya, Oh Priya! By fatcat and The real taste of India! By Tongue_in_cheek

PPS. My wife is staying away from Priya Pickles. A smart hunch she got form her mother in law.